faneuil hall crhistmass tree
The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Boston’s Faneuil Hall
There’s nothing that quite says “Christmas” like a Christmas tree. It acts as a holiday decoration and sees over the gifts in a home. But it also has a place beyond the home. More and more cities and municipalities are getting into the holiday spirit with community trees and special ceremonies that accompany the lighting of such trees. One such east coast city is Boston. In it’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace, a massive Christmas tree is lighted annually. Located at 75 State Street in the heart of downtown, the marketplace is just a short commute from any Boston rental property and a manageable drive from several suburban locations, such as your Allston apartment and Brookline real estate property, where it will take you about 15 minutes to get into town.
The 2011 Christmas tree lighting at Faneuil Hall Marketplace took place on Saturday, November 19 and annually occurs on a Saturday in mid to late November. It’s a day full of holiday entertainment in downtown Boston. In addition to the big countdown at 5 p.m. and the 5:30 p.m. ceremonial tree lighting, it’s a day packed with shopping, food and drinks, Christmas caroling, dancing and more. Performers take to a community stage to entertain the crowd throughout the day. Even Santa Claus gets in on the fun by making a special appearance at the event. He’s even on hand before and after the festivities to take pictures with those in attendance and to put a smile on the faces of all the little ones in attendance.
The event begins at 11 a.m, and the fun isn’t over when the 300,000 lights are flicked on to illuminate the buildings and trees within the marketplace. A Capella groups, choir groups, dance groups and characters from the Boston Ballet Nutcracker are also scheduled to annually attend and perform. Other special surprise celebrities also make it down to the annual lighting to take part in the big day, but you’ll have to be in attendance to see who shows up each particular year. All in all, the event ends at around 6:30 p.m., allowing you plenty of time to hit up some other local establishments for more Boston themed nightlife before you head back to your Boston apartment or commute back to your south end real estate home. But just because 6:30 p.m. arrives doesn’t mean that the tree goes dim. You’ll have plenty of time to admire its beauty before it’s time to go home.
Although the entire marketplace is lit up at the annual tree lighting, the crown jewel of the lighting ceremony is Faneuil Hall’s 75 foot Christmas tree. It towers over the rest of the marketplace and weighs more than six tons. The tree is a Norwegian Spruce that’s some 70 years old. Originally grown in New York’s Rockland County, the tree was transplanted and installed at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Of the estimated 300,000 lights that are annually flipped on at the lighting ceremony, this tree is decorated with over 20,000 of them. It’s also decorated with 1,500 ornaments. There’s nothing else like it in the area to get you into the holiday spirit. Take a date, tag along with your friends or round up your family and head downtown for the day of Christmas fun. Just because the big holiday is still over a month away doesn’t mean you can’t get into the holiday spirit. In Boston, this event serves as the unofficial kick-off to Christmas.
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